Tease
I WILL give you all my keys,You shall be my chatelaine,You shall enter as you please,As you please shall go again.
When I hear you jingling throughAll the chambers of my soul,How I sit and laugh at youIn your vain housekeeping role.
Jealous of the smallest cover,Angry at the simplest door;Well, you anxious, inquisitive lover,Are you pleased with what's in store?
You have fingered all my treasures,Have you not, most curiously,Handled all my tools and measuresAnd masculine machinery?
Over every single beautyYou have had your little rapture;You have slain, as was your duty,Every sin-mouse you could capture.
Still you are not satisfied,Still you tremble faint reproach;Challenge me I keep asideSecrets that you may not broach.
Maybe yes, and maybe no,Maybe there are secret places,Altars barbarous below,Elsewhere halls of high disgraces.
Maybe yes, and maybe no,You may have it as you please,Since I choose to keep you so,Suppliant on your curious knees.
Words in this poem
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- chatelaine n.
- An ornamental hook, or brooch worn by a lady at her waist, and having a short chain or chains attached for a watch, keys, trinkets, etc. Also used adjectively; as, a chatelaine chain. [F. châtelaine the wife of a castellan, the mistress of a chateau, a chatelaine chain.]
- jingling n.
- The act or process of producing a jingle; also, the sound itself; a chink.
- housekeeping n.
- The state of being occupying a dwelling house as a householder.
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- fingered a.
- Having fingers.
- curiously adv.
- In a curious manner.
- broach v. t.
- To spit; to pierce as with a spit. [F. brocher, fr. broche. See Broach, n.]
- maybe adv.
- Perhaps; possibly; peradventure. [For it may be.]
- suppliant a.
- Asking earnestly and submissively; entreating; beseeching; supplicating. [F., p.pr. of supplier to entreat, L. supplicare. See Supplicate, and cf. Supplicant.]
- curious a.
- Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Tease is in the public domain. This text is taken from Amores: Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #22531; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: D. H. Lawrence, Tease, in Amores (1916), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22531, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lawrence-amores/tease.html, id L13543.
Form and metre
Tease is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 7 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 87% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.7 syllables. 13 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 16% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABAB keysA · chatelaineB · pleaseA · againB
- 2 ABAB throughA · soulB · youA · roleB
- 3 ABAB coverA · doorB · loverA · storeB
- 4 A-A- treasuresA · curiously · measuresA · machinery
- 5 ABAB beautyA · raptureB · dutyA · captureB
- 6 ABAB satisfiedA · reproachB · asideA · broachB
- 7 ABAB noA · placesB · belowA · disgracesB
- 8 ABAB noA · pleaseB · soA · kneesB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I WILL give you all my keys, | 7 | ······· |
| You shall be my chatelaine, | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| You shall enter as you please, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| As you please shall go again. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| When I hear you jingling through | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| All the chambers of my soul, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| How I sit and laugh at you | 7 | ······· |
| In your vain housekeeping role. | 7 | ···/·˘· |
| Jealous of the smallest cover, | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| Angry at the simplest door; | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Well, you anxious, inquisitive lover, | 10 | ··/˘˘/˘˘/˘ |
| Are you pleased with what's in store? | 7 | ······· |
| You have fingered all my treasures, | 9 | ··/˘˘··/˘ |
| Have you not, most curiously, | 8 | ····/˘˘˘ |
| Handled all my tools and measures | 9 | /˘˘····/˘ |
| And masculine machinery? | 8 | ·/˘˘˘/˘˘ |
| Over every single beauty | 9 | ··/˘˘/˘/˘ |
| You have had your little rapture; | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| You have slain, as was your duty, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Every sin-mouse you could capture. | 9 | /˘˘····/˘ |
| Still you are not satisfied, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Still you tremble faint reproach; | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Challenge me I keep aside | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| Secrets that you may not broach. | 7 | /˘····· |
| Maybe yes, and maybe no, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Maybe there are secret places, | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| Altars barbarous below, | 7 | /˘/˘˘·· |
| Elsewhere halls of high disgraces. | 8 | /····˘/˘ |
| Maybe yes, and maybe no, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| You may have it as you please, | 7 | ······· |
| Since I choose to keep you so, | 7 | ······· |
| Suppliant on your curious knees. | 9 | /˘˘··/˘˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.